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Friday, June 1, 2012

New York Times Columnist Wrongly Claims the Amendment Process of the U. S. Constitution is Imbecilic

The Process is the Only Thing That Saves the U.S. from Political
Disaster

After the Fall
Election with Republicans firmly in control of the Congress there will be a
spate of proposed Constitutional amendments, all of which will be terrible. Writing
in the New York Times we have this.

May 28, 2012,8:36 PM

Our Imbecilic Constitution

Advocating the adoption of the new
Constitution drafted in Philadelphia,
the authors of “The Federalist Papers” mocked the “imbecility” of the weak
central government created by the Articles of Confederation.

The complaint is that
the amendment process of the Constitution is bad..

But if one must choose
the worst single part of the Constitution, it is surely Article V, which has
made our Constitution among the most difficult to amend of any in the world.
The last truly significant constitutional change was the 22nd Amendment, added in
1951, to limit presidents to two terms. The near impossibility of amending the
national Constitution not only prevents needed reforms; it also makes
discussion seem futile and generates a complacent denial that there is anything
to be concerned about.

Yet it is only that process that is protecting the
country from this.

Amendment to Balance the Budget

A useless amendment that will
eliminate fiscal policy from the arsenal of economic tools.

Amendment to Allow Prayer in
Schools

An amendment that will eliminate Jefferson’s dream of secular government and impose
religion on the American public.

Amendment to Define Marriage
as Only Between a man and a woman

For the first time the Constitution
would be used to restrict freedom rather than advance freedom.

Amendment to Ban Abortions

Turning over control of women’s
bodies to the government.

So we all need to give thanks to Jefferson and
Madison and the others whose genius has, so far, prevented the country from
suffering the erosion of the Constitution. By making it difficult to amend the Constitution they have so far saved the nation, from itself.